


Bubbled (SU Time Travel AU)

by Dimonds456



Category: Steven Universe - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Back to the Moon, Bubbled, Fluff, Navy is my favorite ruby dont @ me, Other, S3, Season 3, Steven Universe - Freeform, Time Travel, Time Travel AU, i really tried with this one, su au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:07:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22858249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dimonds456/pseuds/Dimonds456
Summary: Twoie knows that when he opens the airlock, the mega fusion of Rubies will be blasted out into space. He decides to take Steven’s place, however, and gets himself blasted out instead. Now, Steven wouldn’t need to worry about the terribleness of Eyeball’s wrath, and maybe, just maybe, Twoie may be able to create a better outcome...
Comments: 22
Kudos: 312





	Bubbled (SU Time Travel AU)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Into the Universe](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22139770) by [flynnaw00](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flynnaw00/pseuds/flynnaw00). 



It had been a long, slow trip, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the last of the Ruby guards boarded their Roaming Eye. Amethyst, exhausted, released her shapeshifted form of Jasper, wiping the sweat from her brow. She and Steven both started laughing in relief. 

“Alright, Amethyst!” Steven congratulated her as she walked back up to them. The purple quartz had a large grin on her face, clearly proud of herself. It only grew as the other two Gems started to raise her up as well.

The moon base seemed to be brighter in this change of mood, now that the danger had passed. Even what the Rubies had said about Pink (and how tempted Steven was to reassure them that what they believed was false) couldn’t bring this down.

That is, until the younger of the two brothers realized someone was missing from their celebration.

Twoie watched the ruby ship with a frown, deep in thought. Steven’s delighted expression fell, and he started to walk towards his brother. The eldest decided something, looking down, then turned around with a dead serious look on his face.

“Amethyst, when I give the word, catch Steven,” he announced.

This was enough to quiet the rest of them, too, just in time for the door on the Roaming Eye to open once again. Doc leaned out, a happy look on her face.

“Hey, you need a ride back to Earth? I could sit on your lap if you want. I-...” She looked over, expecting to be looking at her hero, the Kindergarten-Quartz-Who-Could, but instead met the startled eyes of a smaller-than-average Amethyst. The Ruby gasped, anger alight in her eyes. “WHAT?!”

“I’M STILL JASPER!” Amethyst called out in panic, taking a step forward (but forgetting the shapeshifting part).

“We’ve been tricked… AGAIN?!” At Doc’s angered words, the other four Rubies appeared at the door, varying levels of shock and betrayal etched on their faces. “What?” “No way!” 

“RUBIES ASSEMBLE!”

With that, all five of them marched out of the ship. They quickly synchronized, leaping into a pose involving all five of them stacked on top of each other like cheerleaders, before they glowed. A giant fusion of the five rubies loomed over the group, angry and determined. 

“YEAH!” The Mega Ruby boomed. “We won’t let you trick us again!”

The Crystal Gems backed up a bit, each one getting into a stance. Steven, however, had an idea. He started to run for the door, only to realize that Twoie was already there.

“NOW!” Twoie yelled. 

Amethyst, per Twoie’s earlier instruction, grabbed Steven and held him back. The younger of the two brothers started to panic as he realized something was wrong. 

“What? Twoie?” He looked at his brother, searching his face, and saw a glimmer there, one he had seen a few times before. Once when he told Steven to stay with Amethyst and Pearl in the Kindergarten. When they had entered the hospital to get back the sword. And now, as Twoie stood with his hand by the door. The young man gave a soft smile, as if he were reassuring him somehow, but that just made it worse. 

“Twoie, what are you--?”

“HEY RUBIES!” Twoie yelled over the younger of the two. 

The fusion turned to him, glaring, but now curious.

“You guys seem a little mad. Why don’t you give everyone some SPACE?” He yelled the last part as he activated the door to the moon base. The large door opened, and air was instantly sucked out of the place, creating a massive wind. It was all the Gems could do to stop themselves from being sucked out, too. 

The Ruby fusion wasn’t so lucky. She stumbled and went barreling right for the door, but was too big to fit in cleanly. She caught herself on the doorframe, glaring at Twoie as she fought to right herself.

“You can’t get rid of us THAT easily!” She yelled determinedly.

Just as she said that, light filled the room. Twoie braced himself for what he knew came next. 

Sardonyx stood there now, a massive grin on her face. Steven and Amethyst cheered from on her shoulder, watching the fusion between Pearl and Garnet wind up her war hammer and hit the Ruby fusion square in the stomach. Their fusion broke, and the five Rubies started to get pulled away by the wind.

Steven looked to his brother triumphantly, only to see a sadness in his eyes, as if he’d accepted something. Steven tried to call out to him, but before he could, one of the Rubies- Eyeball?- whipped past, grabbing the older brother on the way out and sending him hurtling off into space with the rest of the Rubies. 

“TWOIE!” 

They could hear his frightened screams cutting through the air. Steven wriggled free from Amethyst in her shock, and rushed to the door. It slid shut when he was about halfway across the room. He could hear the Gems behind him yelling for him to stop, to not follow him, come back! It became real when he felt arms around him, holding him back from hitting the spot on the wall and activating the door again.

Who was holding him back? He wasn’t sure, and didn’t need to know. Twoie was gone. In space. Alone, cold, and probably dying. Steven struggled against all three gems now, trying to get to his brother. 

“Steven, calm down!” He heard Amethyst’s plea through his own thoughts, but it just made him angry. He frowned, finally getting free again and facing them.

“No! Twoie’s gone! In space! I could have saved him! I c-could have stopped him from doing that! I-I could have… I…” The anger gave way to a frustrated sadness as the full weight of what just happened slammed into him. His eyes teared up, and he buried his face in an arm.

The Gems moved to comfort him, just wanting to talk to him, but Steven was already on the move again. He looked up at the Roaming Eye, left abandoned after the Rubies were blasted away, and ran for it.

“Come on! We can still save him!” Steven shouted, not bothering to make sure they were actually following. If he had to save Twoie himself, he would.

He was almost surprised to see the Gems run into the ship after him, instantly sitting down at the chairs and trying to figure out how to work the controls. Steven took lead, sitting on the front chair, and pushed a big button on the screen full of symbols and smaller buttons. It must have been the right one, because the ship powered on and started to move.

The other gems tapped their screens, too, and as Pearl slid her finger across hers, the ship turned and started to move toward the door.

Steven grimaced to himself, frowning in determination. “Don’t worry, Twoie, we’re coming.”

* * * * *

It was cold. And dark. And the whole world seemed to be spinning. Err, no, that’s not quite it. He himself was spinning, and the Earth flashed by a few times as he did so. 

Twoie took a second, breathing in and letting himself slow down. The universe gradually stopped spinning as his floating powers activated, and he was better able to grasp where he was. 

Once again, he had gotten himself blasted out into space.

Twoie looked at the moon through his bubble, trying to see if he could spot the moon base, but it was already too far away and only getting farther. This was fine though! The Gems had the ruby ship. All they had to do was find him, and if he remembered correctly, it would take some time, but they _would_ find him. That was the important part.

Looking around, Twoie felt that familiar sense of fear creeping in, even though he knew he would be okay. If the Gems didn’t want to save him, Steven would, and they wouldn’t dare oppose him, right? Not about something like this. They might not be on the best of conditions, they might have wavering trust issues and doubts, but they wouldn’t let him die out here. He just had to hold out.

All around him, he could see each of the five Rubies spiraling away in different directions. He frowned, seeing each of their faces as best as he could, and noting the anger and betrayal there. Maybe… maybe he could fix this. Last time, he didn’t have any idea of what to do, and he didn’t have a lot of control over his powers. But now…

Reaching out with his bubble, he managed to grab onto the nearest Ruby, who wasn’t too far away. At first, she was confused, but as the bubble started moving back towards Twoie, her anger returned.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Army shouted. She threw her arms out, feeling the solid surface around her. 

“Saving you from floating aimlessly through space forever,” Twoie replied, kind of annoyed at her lack of gratitude. 

Army squinted at him. “Why?”

“Because it isn’t right to just leave you there.” 

Their bubbles merged into one. Twoie breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. “Now I’m getting the rest of them, too, so please get out of the way.”

Army maintained her look of suspicion, but shifted her position in the bubble so that Twoie could see out there again. More Rubies floated out and about, and from this distance, it was hard to tell who was who. Again, he reached out for the closest one, wrapped her in a bubble, and pulled her in. 

“Woah, you saved me!” Navy smiled with glee. “Thank you!”

Twoie smiled nervously, remembering her later debacle at the barn. “You’re welcome. Here, could you move a bit? I need to see past you.”

Navy smiled and moved back with Army. Twoie reached out, his bubble never stretching this far before, and reeled in Doc. She had a similar reaction to Army’s, but didn’t argue with Twoie about saving the other two Rubies still out in space. Next up was Leggy, who was asking questions before the bubble even fully wrapped around her.

Last but not least, Eyeball. Twoie spotted her floating not too far away- closer than the last three Rubies had been- but he hesitated to reach out to her. He grimaced at the memory of her knife, aimed right for his gem, her vicious laughter as she decided to poof him and take his gem straight to the Diamonds, gushing about how she’d have her own Pearl… 

Could he avoid that this time?

“Hey, what’s taking so long?” Doc crossed her arms, glaring at Twoie. “She’s right there.”

“Oh, r-right, hang on,” Twoie stuttered, pushing back his fear. He had no choice. Reaching out, he grabbed her in a bubble and pulled her inside.

Once the gem was in the main bubble, the other four rubies visibly relaxed. Eyeball didn’t look at them, though, her gaze focused solely on Twoie.

_“YOU.”_

“Eyeball…” Twoie waved an awkward greeting. “H-how’s it going?”

The gem glared with an intensity Twoie was all too familiar with. “‘How’s it going’? You just blasted us INTO SPACE.”

“Yeah, heheh, sorry about that,” Twoie rubbed the back of his head. 

Eyeball growled. “That’s it? Rrrr, this is a mess!” She swung a fist at Twoie’s head. He ducked, but only just. “What in stars are we going to say in our report,” Eyeball ranted on, spinning to look at her fellow Rubies. “How will we even _make_ our report?! We’re all stranded out here FOREVER!” 

The other four Rubies gasped in realization (“Wait, what was that?” Leggy asked). 

Eyeball turned back to Twoie, moved forward, and held up a hand threateningly close to her gem. “And it’s all your fault.”

Uh oh. “Hey now, I just rescued you all from just floating around forever,” Twoie countered. “I didn’t need to do that.”

Eyeball squinted. “So why did you?”

The other rubies hummed their own thoughts in agreement with Eyeball.

“Yeah,” Doc pitched in. “Is this _another_ trick of some kind?”

“It better not be, else I _launch him into the nearest star.”_

“WAIT! No no, this isn’t a trick!” Twoie waved his arms in front of him, shaking his head. “I just didn’t want you out here all alone for so long.” Twoie’s head was racing. This was not going the way he wanted this to go.

“That’s a little ironic coming from _you,_ the one who _opened the airlock in the FIRST place,_ ” Eyeball hissed. “First the Crystal Gems still exist on Earth, a war for nothing! Rose Quartz might still exist, and if she’s out there, then vengeance is the first thing I do when I get on a colony! Then, you trick us to going to Neptune. Then you trick us _again_ on the moon base! And now, you’re trying to trick us _AGAIN_ into liking you!”

The other four Rubies were all glaring at him now (well, all except for Navy, who was more concerned than anything). Eyeball’s gem glowed, and she produced a short knife from within. Doc and Army followed suit, with Leggy joining them after registering that it was battle time now.

Twoie chuckled nervously. “H-hey now, let’s talk about this! I’m the one making this bubble, right? I went out of my way to save you. I’m trying to make amends. If you attack me now, you’ll have no hope of ever getting back to Homeworld.” He floated backwards, putting as much distance between he and the ruby squad as he could. “I’m just trying to help you. You can hate me, be mad at me all you want, but I’m your only way to stick together right now.”

Army and Leggy’s scowls fell a bit, but Doc and Eyeball were unwavering. “And how do _you_ plan on going anywhere,” Doc asked. “All six of us are floating out here in space with nowhere to go!”

Twoie smiled knowingly. “Actually, the Crystal Gems will find us.” He grinned, crossing his arms confidently. “They have your ship. By now, they’ve figured out how to fly it. Now, they’re going to be looking for me. When they see me with you guys, they’ll have no choice but to rescue all six of us. Then you’ll have your ship back, and we’ll all be able to go our separate ways.”

This was not actually when Twoie had in mind. Once the gems rescued them, Twoie and Steven would work together to convince the Rubies to stick around for a while, come up with an excuse to get them to stay. And if they couldn’t? There was no way the Gems would just _let them_ have their ship back. Then, he’d change their minds about Earth and Homeworld. Eyeball would be the hardest to persuade, and was easily going to be the problematic one, but it was worth a try. If he could avoid what happened during the trial, or Bluebird Azurite, or anything like that, then he would.

“You’re just going to… let us go?” Leggy’s brows raised in surprise. “Just like that?”

“Yeah!” Twoie mustered the most friendly smile he could. “At least, that’s my plan. And I’m going to help make it happen as best I can.” ‘ _The gems won’t let them just leave,’_ Twoie thought. _‘They’ll be stuck on Earth, and then maybe, just maybe, I can-‘_

“I don’t buy it.” 

Most of the rubies were frowning at him to some degree. Doc tried tapping her foot, but since her feet weren’t touching anything, it just looked like awkward waving of some kind.

“You just expect us to believe you?”

“After you JUST tricked us again?”

“Just like that?”

Twoie was starting to panic. He needed some time to think before he could keep addressing this. “You know what,” he stammered, realizing too late how suspicious this was going to make him look. “I need to go. I’ll be back. Maybe.”

The rubies stared at him in surprise. “And just WHERE do you think you’re going? We’re in SPACE.” Army scowled at him.

“Oh, just over here.” Twoie made his bubble start to make another one similar to the ones he shot out the reel the rubies in in the first place. It opened behind him. He started to back away into it. “Be right back.”

“OH NO YOU DON’T!” A knife shot just past Twoie’s face. The man jumped, moving his hand off the bubble, which was lucky because the knife stuck in right where his hand had just been. The bubble closed up behind Twoie. Eyeball pulled another knife from her gem, holding it out in front of her accusingly. “You think you can just trick us into liking you, and when that doesn’t work, you can just _RUN AWAY?_ I don’t think so.”

Twoie racked his brain for something to say to her, to any of them, but he was getting nothing. He just saw the shimmer of light reflected off the blades of four knives, all of which were pointed right at him…

Wait, where was the fifth?

“Navy! Y-you know th-this is crazy, right?!” He and the Ruby locked eyes. Navy blinked, pointing to herself in momentary confusion. “Yes, you! You know that I’m your only link at sticking together. If you let them attack me, you’ll all go back to floating around forever! I-is that what you w-want?” Stars, he hoped he sounded pleading enough. 

Navy frowned, looking down to think for a second. The other four rubies turned to look at her, varying degrees of shock, anticipation, and flat-out anger written on their faces. Under their stares, Navy started to sweat, becoming more nervous.

“Ruby?” Doc scowled at her lack of immediate response.

“I…” Navy reached up towards her gem slowly. It glowed a bright white, and the handle of a knife appeared. She reached to grab it, but hesitated. She looked up again, meeting all her fellow ruby’s eyes.

She looked to Twoie last. His hand was clenched to his chest, and he could feel himself shaking. “ _Please…”_

Navy looked to him a minute more, then shut her eyes. She lowered her head, frowned, and took a deep breath. 

“NO!”

The knife handle retreated back inside her gem, and once inside, it stopped glowing and faded back into its red color. Doc, Eyeball, and Army gasped, staring at her in disbelief.

“What did you just say?”

“You can’t be serious!”

“Wait, what? What just happened?”

“TRAITOR!” Eyeball pushed Doc and Leggy out of the way, floating closer to Navy. “You’re siding… with HIM?!”

“No! I mean, yes, I-“ Navy tumbled over her words, moving back away from Eyeball. “He has a point! If we poof or shatter him, this pink shield-bubble thing will collapse, and we’ll scatter again! We need him alive to-“

“That doesn’t matter! He’s tricking you into liking him! How can you just _fall for it AGAIN?”_

“I-…”

Eyeball, using Doc and Leggy as a means of leverage, pushed herself toward Navy. The grip around her knife tightened, and with her free hand, she grabbed the gem’s shirt. Navy gulped panickedly.

“Navy!” Twoie reached a hand towards her, wishing he could help her, but there were three- well, two- Ruby-shaped threats blocking his way, plus Eyeball.

“You would turn on us for that Homeworld _TRAITOR?_ ” Eyeball screeched. 

“Ruby, I-“

“SILENCE!” Eyeball glared hard at her. “When we get back to Homeworld, I’m reporting this. You’ll be lucky if you only get an eon in a bubble.”

“I wasn’t trying to betray you!” Navy kicked her legs, trying to free herself from Eyeball’s grasp, but to no avail. “I just don’t want to be alone out there! We’re a team!”

Eyeball’s glare only worsened.

Twoie’s fear was climbing. He had to do something, but he couldn’t! He knew what Eyeball was capable of, and if he rescued Navy, then her hatred would turn to him instead. There really was nothing he could do about this that would fix his and Eyeball’s relationship now. Rrrr, why couldn’t he just fix this? He had the experience he needed, as well as outside knowledge of how each member of the squad thought, and the drive to make it right! He should be better than ever at fixing things like this! But could he? No! Because he was just _AFRAID!_

His cheeks started to glow pink. 

He remembered what Lars had said the night before he died. _“Just stupid and afraid.”_ And then, he finally overcame that and saved all of them! And what did he get? A solid rock to the head and his life wasted.

Looking at the scene before him, Twoie could see the faces of the other three Rubies, half-turned away from him, all showing shock and fear of Eyeball’s sudden snap. The Off-Colors watching a Robonoid as it scanned Padparacha. Scanned him.

Well not this time.

“That’s it!” Eyeball’s growl shot through the air. “I’m going to bubble you first! With you out of the way, we can much easier get _rid_ of the Twoie!” She raised her knife.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Twoie, glowing pink from head to toe, shot forward. He produced a shield and shoved through the other three rubies, slamming into Eyeball and knocking her away from Navy with a quick flick of his shield-clad arm. Eyeball spun, catching herself on the edge of his bubble. She glared at both of them now. 

Navy’s eyes went wide. Twoie offered her his hand, silently asking her to join him. Navy looked at it, then back up at him. Something clicked in her mind, and she took it, grinning. 

Steven grinned back.

“Okay, Navy, get ready. This isn’t going to be easy.” 

The gem nodded, producing her knife-like Gem weapon as well. “Got it.” 

Eyeball launched herself towards Twoie, and the other three Rubies did the same. Navy grabbed his shield and launched it at Doc, watching with grim determination as it ricocheted off of her and smacked into Army as well, rebounding back into Twoie’s hands just in time for him to smack Eyeball away with it. Eyeball, prepared for this, gripped the edges of it with both hands, her knife floating away and dissipating. She was flung a little, but maintained her grip as Twoie finished his swing with his arm. Then, she placed a foot on top and launched herself forward, getting a solid hit in on his eye. The shield dissipated as Twoie fumbled backward, holding his injured eye.

Navy was locked in a one-on-three battle with Doc, Army, and Leggy. She expertly blocked each of their attacks as they came one at a time, but when Doc and Army attacked at the same time, she took a hit as well.

“C’mon, guys, we can stop fighting now!” Navy cried out. “I never wanted to hurt you! I just don’t want to be split apart! We need to stick together!”

“You sided with the traitor!” Doc spat. “Don’t you know what that means?”

“No, it wasn’t like that-!”

“CUT IT OUT!” Twoie soared past, diving head-first into Doc and sending her vaulting away. He pulled out a second shield and batted Army away as well, then spun around and blocked just in time to catch Eyeball as she tried getting at hit in on his turned backside. He shoved her away, then volleyed himself straight for her, hitting her with the shield.

The momentum flung Eyeball backwards, and she collided with Doc. The two looked at each other and nodded. 

“Rubies,” Doc called out, “ASSEMBLE!”

Twoie and Navy gasped. Doc, Eyeball, Army, and Leggy all moved together, their gems glowing, and they fused into one, giant Ruby, though not quite as big as before with Navy’s absence. Mega Ruby chuckled, her voice deeper than before as well. 

“Try beating us around now!” She grinned, laughing. 

Twoie was shaking. His breath quickened. Facing off against the Ruby fusion? He’d never done that before! They always unfused before they actually attacked! 

The mega fusion looked at him, one of her pupils Eyeball’s gem. She had that same expression on her face the last time they were out here, when she tried to kill him and the rest of the rubies were separated. Twoie looked at her, backing up. His pink glow faded away, and tears pricked at his eyes. Why couldn’t he fix this…? 

Eyeball’s laughter cut through the air. She was standing over him, knife in hand. It was aimed straight at his gem. “Oh, give it up already! You can’t take this away from me! I’m gonna be a legend! I’ll go down in history. What will the Diamonds say when they hear that a _Ruby_ defeated Rose Quartz? They’re gonna give me my own Pearl!” She laughed, biting the end of her knife handle the more she thought about it. 

“Twoie! WATCH OUT!”

Twoie snapped out of the memory to see a hand swinging towards him. He was still paralyzed, and couldn’t move out of the way before Mega Ruby’s arm smacked into him, sending him flying. He slammed into the side of the bubble with a loud, pained grunt. He barely had time to open his eyes before Navy was launched into him as well. The smaller Ruby clung to Twoie in fear, watching as her squad raised an arm to deal the final blow, one that would surely poof Navy. 

But Twoie still couldn’t move. He was frozen. The whole thing was just repeating itself, but _even worse than last time!_

Well, if it _had_ to repeat…

“Navy,” Twoie choked out, “Hold onto me.”

Although the gem was already squeezing his coat pretty fiercely, she grabbed on tighter now. Twoie wrapped an arm around her, too, and looked up at the fusion.

Mega Ruby swung an arm down. Twoie took a deep breath and dropped his bubble, using his floating powers to veer out of the way of the punch. The momentum of it sent Mega Ruby barreling off into space, and as soon as she was far enough away (which was like two feet for Twoie), the bubble was back up, but much smaller this time. After giving it a second, Twoie took in a breath. 

Navy reached out to her squad, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. “Wait, Ruby! That’s not- this is not what I wanted! Ruby, WAIT!” 

But it was too late. The fusion was getting further and further away by the second. 

Twoie breathed a small sigh of relief. “At least they’re together this time,” he reassured himself.

...And their fusion came undone, Eyeball screaming something at one of the other Rubies (but due to their being in space, no one could hear what she was saying). They all went off in their own different ways, reaching out for each other. 

Navy reached out a hand of her own. “Rubies…?”

Twoie sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Nav- err, Ruby. This is all my fault. I thought that… I could fix everything. If I could just reason with you all, then maybe things would be different?” He could feel his own tears starting to fall as well. “Maybe things would be better in the future? Eyeball wouldn’t hate me so much, and you all wouldn’t get separated, you might actually learn to like the Earth like so many other gems before you…” He sniffled. “What did I do wrong?”

He curled in on himself, burying his face in his arms. His sobs came out in hiccups. Why did he think it was a good idea to do this again?

“...Twoie?”

The young man looked up. Navy was wiping her own eyes, holding a hand out to him. “I don’t know much about changing up the future, but you tried your best. You didn’t have to save us. But you did anyways.” She looked back out in space, watching as the Rubies became smaller and smaller. Closing her eyes, she shook her head almost in disappointment. “I tried to help make them see that what you did was a good thing. But they didn’t listen. They never listen to me. I’m sorry I wasn’t more help.”

Twoie looked at her still-outstretched hand, hesitating, but took it. “You don’t have to apologize for a thing,” he murmured, smiling sadly. “I’m really glad you’re here.”

Navy frowned playfully at him. “Is that a trick?”

Twoie’s smile grew as his mood lightened just a bit. “No.”

He tugged Navy closer to him, pulling her into an Earth-style hug. He kept one hand holding hers, and wrapped the other around her back. Navy, at first, wasn’t sure what to make of the gesture, but after mimicking what he was doing, she found it… oddly comforting. 

“What is this?”

“A hug. It’s a way of saying you’re happy with someone back on Earth.”

“...Do you hug all the time?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

Navy smiled softly. “Then I think I’m going to like it there.”

Twoie chuckled a bit. “You will. I promise.”

They continued to embrace as Twoie shrunk the bubble. The two of them talked every now and then, and at one point, Twoie even started going on about how great Earth was and how much fun being a Crystal Gem was. Navy would fit right in. The more he talked, the more genuinely happy the Ruby became, ready to see it all. 

* * * * *

Steven was near tears. The scanners had picked up on one large signal coming from far-off space, but it was so far away-! They had been chasing it, watching as it drew closer and closer on the monitors, until suddenly, it broke apart. Two different signals shot off from each other, and then the bigger of the two split into four _more_ smaller signals! They were still a ways away when it happened, and now, there was no telling which one was Twoie. 

One signal was stronger than the others, so they group decided to head there. With Twoie being a Diamond, perhaps he was giving off a stronger signal? It was possible. But if that were the case, wouldn’t the signal be much stronger than it surrently was? Gem tech was weird.

Now, Steven was scanning the windows, looking for any trace of his brother. He had to still be alive. He HAD to. He had to go back to the future one day, and help change it for the better! How could it be better of he was-!?

“We’re closing in on the signal,” Garnet announced, looking up from her screen. “Everybody keep an eye out.”

Amethyst got up out of her chair, coming to stand next to Steven. “Hey, you doin’ alright,” she asked. 

“I’ll be just fine after we find Twoie,” Steven replied, almost growling at her. 

Amethyst took a step back in surprise, not used to hearing the typically-chipper child sound so… worn out and stressed. She sighed, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Okay. We’ll find him. I promise.”

Steven nodded in acknowledgement, not taking his eyes off the window. 

Space was beautiful. He couldn’t deny that. But amidst the sparkling starts and spiraling galaxies was his brother somewhere. Twoie _was_ out there. There was no way he couldn’t be.

Wait… dead center in front of them was a distant, pink star. Or at least, it had looked like a star until it got slightly bigger. Steven recognise it instantly as a bubble; his own bubble.

“THERE! I SEE HIM! I SEE HIM!” Steven ran to the window, poking the glass in the bubble’s direction. “He’s in a bubble! Twoie’s okay! He’s okay!” 

Tears rolled down his cheeks. He laughed happily as the Roaming Eye better corrected itself, aiming right for it. Amethyst started laughing in relief as well, as she and Twoie had grown incredibly close. The two hugged it out. 

Pearl looked over, smiling in relief as well, whereas Garnet maintained her focus on her task. That didn’t stop her from smiling, though. It seemed that everyone was, at least a little bit, fond of Twoie. That was good. That was a huge relief to hear.

As the bubble drew closer, the four noticed that there was something else in the gem besides Twoie. He was clutching one of the Rubies- Navy, it looked like- and both of them were smiling at the ship with tired, relieved eyes. Steven couldn’t read everything in his brother’s expression, but just from the way his eyelids drooped, it looked like something happened to him. Another thing to set off his anxiety or PTSD? Steven severely hoped not. He’d ask later, just to be sure.

The Roaming Eye opened up, creating a tractor beam that pulled the both of them inside. Once the door slid shut, Steven bust into the little room held aside just for occasions like this and threw himself into his brother’s arms. Twoie had let down his shield as soon as they were inside the ship (even though the door was still open), but still didn’t expect the bundle of joy to jump at him so quickly. 

The two laughed together in relief, tears rolling down their cheeks. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl followed suit, creating a group hug. 

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Steven murmured. “I don’t know what I’d do if we lost you in space forever…” He sniffled, then remembered something. He pushed away from Twoie, eyebrows creased. “WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!” He shouted. “You just LET yourself get blown away into outer space?! With no way of coming back?!”

Twoie frowned. “Hey, now, I know for a fact that you were thinking the same thing,” he stated. “That’s why I had Amethyst hold you back. Sometimes, things happen to you that have to happen, but… not this. It would have just been more trauma to add to the pile. Nothing but badness out here. So, I took the hit for you.”

“But TWOIE!” Steven was fuming. “You didn’t have to do this! If you knew this would happen, couldn’t you have tried a different approach? Maybe step away from the door before that Ruby pulled you out, too?! Or maybe we could have fought them! Together! You can’t just take my place in every bad place! You’re already broken enough as it is!!”

Silence engulfed the room. Twoie stared at his brother, not sure how to respond. Steven seemed to realize the last bit of what he just said and took a few steps forward.

“Twoie, I… I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to-!”

“No. Dont’ apologize.” The older of the two stood up, looking down on his brother with empty eyes. “You’re right. I just… want to make things better. And it is better this time!” He smiled, but Steven could still see a hint of something darker underneath. “This time, I managed to save one of the Rubies!” Twoie gestured to Navy, who had awkwardly been picking at the floor. “Ruby, come here.”

Navy got up and nervously took a few steps forward. “H-hey there,” she smiled tentatively. “Twoie said that… that I could hang out with you guys from now on…?”

The gems seemed to get the message. They smiled at her, relaxing a bit. 

“Of course,” Pearl said.

“Welcome.” Garnet held out her hand for the Ruby to take.

More than delighted to be a part of a group again, Navy giggled cheerfully and threw herself into the three original Crystal Gems. Steven and Twoie watched, the eldest with his fingers running through the younger’s hair. 

Maybe he had changed something for the better, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Whew! Okay, this is my first SU fanfic (if you don’t count comics). I really, really love the Tim Travel AU, and I knew I had to write something for it. So when I got the idea to see what would happen if Twoie and Eyeball went head-to-head instead of Steven, I knew that was the idea I would go with. 
> 
> I’m sorry I’m not very good at writing action sequences! I’m working on it. I have no idea how to practice without creating a big setup first, though, so I guess I’ll just get better the more fight scenes are brought up in my writing, I guess? Idk.
> 
> Anyways. Any and all feedback is appreciated! Do you think this would have played out differently?


End file.
